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Black Vulcan
SuperFriends Team Member Black Vulcan is a superhero with the ability to control lightning. He can also travel at the speed of light and beyond, allowing him to break the time barrier and travel through time. He's a member of the Justice League of America. __TOC__ Earth-1A History Nothing is know about Black Vulcan's origin except that he was a founding member of the Super Friends. Black Vulcan was the most surprised member of the Super Friends after Robin. Almost 80% of his dialogue was "Great Lightning!" You'd think he'd stop being so genuinely surprised considering the people he hangs out with! Aside from his physical appearance and the sound of his voice, there was no way to tell he was black, as he was written like any other character. (At the time, black characters were written with dialects or spoke jive.) He did, however, talk in electricity-related puns. "I'll electrify you with the shock of your life!" Black Vulcan raided the Pyramids of Egypt while his unconscious mind was being controlled by Lex Luthor's dream machine. He seemed to be enjoying it, though, implying he was the only Super Friend that was conscious throughout the entire ordeal. In 1985, he was replaced with Cyborg, another black superhero who was well-established in the DC continuity. Cyborg was notably inferior compared to B.V. Continuity from the William Street Universe In the William Street Universe, a counterpart of Black Vulcan exists. In this universe, [http://harveybirdman.wikia.com/wiki/Black_Vulcan Black Vulcan] is a former Super Friend who also has the power to control electricity. He says his power is "Pure electricity... in my pants." This becomes a running gag: whenever someone makes a double entendre, he will appear and utter some variation on "...In my pants." He was fired from the Super Friends because of some sort of budget thing, but he thinks it's because he complained they were always pairing him up with a white Super Friend, like he was going to start super looting the minute they weren't watching (which isn't true as he does it in the first episode.) He also says that he used to go by "Supervolt" and the name "Black Vulcan" was Aquaman's idea, to which he said "Well, maybe we should call you 'White Fish'!" Black Vulcan soon joins Harvey Birdman, and together with a group of other minor heroes (as well as Jesse Jackson) they decide to form the "Multi-Culture Pals." "That's SUPERVOLT!" He later shows up and gives advice to Peanut as he goes through superhero puberty and discovers his powers. ("I felt something... happenin'..." "In your pants?" "That's right. In my pants...") He's also shown to have an ex-girlfriend named Norlisa, who's now dating Reducto. They eventually decide to have a threesome. Debbie has a crush on him, which is referred to as "sexual harassment." *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Birdman,_Attorney_at_Law Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law] at wikipedia.org *The [http://harveybirdman.wikia.com/wiki/Harvey_Birdman_Wiki Harvey Birdman Wiki] Powers & Abilities Super powers * Transformation: He can transform his whole body, or half of his body into lightning. * Flight: He can turn himself into a living lightning bolt in order to travel through the sky * Superhuman Speed: He can turn himself into a living lightning bolt in order to travel at the speed of light * Electrokinesis: He can control electricity in multiple ways. *'Lightning Bolts': He can also generate lightning bolts from his hands * Force field: He can also generate lightning bolts from his hands as force fields. The force field can even protect him from the vacuum of space. * Time travel: He can travel back in time by fluctuating his body's electrical energy SuperFriends Team Members Appearances Notes * As originally depicted, Black Vulcan's costume had the super-hero equivalent of pants, but in later episodes his legs are bare. *''Black Vulcan'' was created to replace an already existing hero named Black Lightning when legal reasons with Black Lightning's creator, Tony Isabella and DC, prevented the character from being used. Black Lightning #10's story "The Other Black Lightning" is about this predicament, as Isabella did not like his character being stolen. But because Black Vulcan's powers ended up being different, he is treated as a separate character. **Black Lightning originally being intended for the show is referenced in the Black Lightning DC Nation short "Clothes Make the Hero", as one can see the Black Vulcan costume in the background. This seems to indicate that the Jefferson Pierce of this universe once was Black Vulcan at a certain point in his career as a superhero. This theory has been the case with old Super Friends fan websites as well. **This has been debunked as a certain popular fan depiction of Black Vulcan presents him as a separate character named Michael Jones. * The character of Black Vulcan was created by Jeffrey Scott and Hanna-Barbera Productions and is unique to the continuity of the Super Friends television series. *'Black Vulcan' made his first DC Comics appearance in DC One Million 80 Page Giant # 1,000,000 (August 1999).Click here] for more information about this comic. *Black Vulcan was originally going to make a guest appearance in the Season 3a episode "Journey Through Inner Space," being who Wonder Woman and Superman would travel inside. However, he eventually did not appear in the episode and the role was taken by his usual partner Aquaman. *Black Vulcan is the only team member who remembers to wear a helmet while in space or in the ocean. *In Cracked's video "Wonder Woman's Sex Tape," Black Vulcan is shown hosting a show on BET entitled Once You Go Black. *Black Vulcan was going to get a Super Powers Collection action figure, but it was shelved as Cyborg proved to be the more popular black superhero. *Black Vulcan, in his first appearances, would shout his name before using his powers. This subsided in later appearances. *His catchphrase "Great Lightning!" has become a popular Internet meme. Other Versions Black Lightning Black Vulcan was a take off on Black Lightning, a character who already existed in the DC Comics Universe. Apparently there were challenges with Tony Isabella (the creator of Black Lightning), so Black Vulcan was invented. Isabella is known to not like the fact HB stole his character. When Black Lightning wasn't generating electricity through his body, he was a high school teacher and former Olympic decathlete. Jefferson Pierce returned to his old neighborhood in the Southside (Suicide Slum) of the city of Metropolis, with his wife Lynn Stewart and his daughter Anissa to become the principal of Garfield High School. Black Lightning debuted in ''Black Lightning vol.1, #1Go to the DC Database for more on [http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Black_Lightning_Vol_1_1 ''Black Lightning vol.1, #1] (April 1977), and was created by Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden. Juice Juice is a fictional character featured in the animated series Justice League Unlimited and is a member of the Ultimen, a team of villains deliberately made to be represent the members of the SuperFriends created for the TV show.For more on Juice member of the Ultimen go to the DCAU Gallery Click here. External Links *Black Vulcan at Seanbaby's Super Friends Page *Black Vulcan vs Black Lightning * Black Vulcan at Black SuperHero Blog *Black Vulcan at wikipedia.org *Black Lightning at Don Markstein's Toonopedia *Black Lightning at wikipedia.org Reference Category:Characters Category:DC characters Category:Superheroes Category:African American Superheroes Category:SuperFriends Team Members Category:International Heroes